I tried the Crux NoMo IPA and did not like it. I thought it had very little flavor. Prefer the Athletic offerings.
Beer (Without the Alcohol)
- Thread starter Evan B
- Start date
B
bennysbuddy
Guest
I drink Selzer water mainly because as a diabetic sugar is a big no -no. I also find I can put a few cans of it in the cooler at work & nobody will steal it .
mooseknuckles
Distinguished Degenerate
Not a beer connoisseur however I am a fan of the Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher which they claim to be an “IPA inspired beverage.”
I recently ordered 6 6packs from Athletic.
IPA, Golden Ale, Dark Ale, Maple Brown, Cranberry Pale Ale, Day Pack Hopped Blood Orange Seltzer.
None of them went down the drain. Here is my rating in order from good to ok.
TL;DR
Some good, some ok. Taste is subjective. Seasonal offerings are intriguing, but need more work.
1. Dark Ale ( I like stouts so this one was right up my alley)
2. Golden Ale (bread and yeast were present with a crispy crispness)
3. Day Pack (pleasant surprise with the bitter/citrus combo) IPA of seltzer
4. IPA (good but was it great?)
5. Cranberry Pale (not bad, lacked carbination that would have pushed it above the ipa)
6. Maple Brown (least favorite, lacked depth and carbonation)
The last two were their seasonal offerings, not their usual and came in different packaging. Not sure of this had anything to do with the lack of carbonation. I appreciate that they are constantly trying new styles but their usual are solid.
If you go the mail order route be aware.. My first order from them got turned around in Tukwila then returned because of damage. I had to reach out to them for getting a new order shipped. Then there was some delays for them to fulfill the order. All in all it took about a month to get the brews. YMMV
IPA, Golden Ale, Dark Ale, Maple Brown, Cranberry Pale Ale, Day Pack Hopped Blood Orange Seltzer.
None of them went down the drain. Here is my rating in order from good to ok.
TL;DR
Some good, some ok. Taste is subjective. Seasonal offerings are intriguing, but need more work.
1. Dark Ale ( I like stouts so this one was right up my alley)
2. Golden Ale (bread and yeast were present with a crispy crispness)
3. Day Pack (pleasant surprise with the bitter/citrus combo) IPA of seltzer
4. IPA (good but was it great?)
5. Cranberry Pale (not bad, lacked carbination that would have pushed it above the ipa)
6. Maple Brown (least favorite, lacked depth and carbonation)
The last two were their seasonal offerings, not their usual and came in different packaging. Not sure of this had anything to do with the lack of carbonation. I appreciate that they are constantly trying new styles but their usual are solid.
If you go the mail order route be aware.. My first order from them got turned around in Tukwila then returned because of damage. I had to reach out to them for getting a new order shipped. Then there was some delays for them to fulfill the order. All in all it took about a month to get the brews. YMMV
Breck
The Whisk(e)y Dick
I feel this. I'm type 2 with the 'Beetus. Beer has way too many carbs for me. Sad thing is, I love beer. I love beer more than most things.
I also enjoy getting a lil buzz on every now and again. If I want a "beer", I have to drink one of those stupid hard seltzers or a Michelob Ultra. I don't know which is more disappointing and unsatisfying.
I also enjoy getting a lil buzz on every now and again. If I want a "beer", I have to drink one of those stupid hard seltzers or a Michelob Ultra. I don't know which is more disappointing and unsatisfying.
Now if someone could point me in the direction of an non alcoholic whiskey.
atomic dog
Steelhead
Can't speak to its quality, I've only seen facebook ads for it, but there is a brand called Monday out there. I'd share a link, but I'm not browsing booze website on a gubmint owned computer
.
Nice... I'm going to have to try those too.
I tend to run a ratio of about 5:1 NA to real beer and went on a quest to sample as many as possible recently. Here's how I would rank them from best to worst:
Athletic - Definitely dominates the genre and their pilot program makes it easy to keep things interesting.
Brewdog - They have some good ones, regardless of how you might feel about their CEO. I'm a big fan of their Elvis AF, which has a grapefruitiness reminiscent of Sculpin.
Lagunitas - The NIPA is decent. I actually prefer their hop water to their NA beer though. It is really tasty and refreshing, but overpriced for what it is. I keep meaning to brew up a batch of my own to have on draft, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Crux - No Mo is pretty good, if a little light on flavor.
Gruvi and Ceria were both acceptable, but not my first pick.
Surreal - A little watery for my liking, but doesn't taste bad and is extremely low calorie. My wife really likes their Kolsch that is only 17cal.
Partake is similar - watery, but low cal and not horrible.
Wellbeing is okay, but seems to use some sort of alternative to hops that gives their beers more of a flowery taste.
Then of course, there are all the standards that you can find in any grocery store. Not great, some better than others, but not the worst I have had. That award goes to...
Bravus - Hands down the most disgusting swill I have ever sampled. I bought a selection of theirs, took 2-3 sips of each type and promptly poured the rest down the drain. Every one of them tasted like boiled vegetable chemical water. I have no idea how they are in business.
Athletic - Definitely dominates the genre and their pilot program makes it easy to keep things interesting.
Brewdog - They have some good ones, regardless of how you might feel about their CEO. I'm a big fan of their Elvis AF, which has a grapefruitiness reminiscent of Sculpin.
Lagunitas - The NIPA is decent. I actually prefer their hop water to their NA beer though. It is really tasty and refreshing, but overpriced for what it is. I keep meaning to brew up a batch of my own to have on draft, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Crux - No Mo is pretty good, if a little light on flavor.
Gruvi and Ceria were both acceptable, but not my first pick.
Surreal - A little watery for my liking, but doesn't taste bad and is extremely low calorie. My wife really likes their Kolsch that is only 17cal.
Partake is similar - watery, but low cal and not horrible.
Wellbeing is okay, but seems to use some sort of alternative to hops that gives their beers more of a flowery taste.
Then of course, there are all the standards that you can find in any grocery store. Not great, some better than others, but not the worst I have had. That award goes to...
Bravus - Hands down the most disgusting swill I have ever sampled. I bought a selection of theirs, took 2-3 sips of each type and promptly poured the rest down the drain. Every one of them tasted like boiled vegetable chemical water. I have no idea how they are in business.
I had a similar issue with them in December when everything was delayed. One order took forever to show up, and when it did it had obviously frozen in transit and several cans had bulged and leaked. Oddly enough, that order happened to be (accidentally?) double shipped. Same UPS tracking # and everything, so another box showed up a few days later with exactly the same stuff in it minus the freeze damage.
I had one order from them that was missing a 6-pack. I let them know and they 2-day shipped two 6-packs to replace it.
Your thread is timely! Couple of weeks ago i was in the market and just impulse-bought a 12pk of this Upside Dawn Golden by Athletic. Didn’t knock my socks off, but thought it was decent. I kind of hope someone comes out with a great non alcoholic Hefeweizen for that summer beer experience.My relationship with beer is weird and continues to get weirder. A good beer is one of my favorite things on the planet. Alcohol happens to be one of my least favorite. So you can see why this has always been a conflict for me. So I drink very sparingly, and typically one or two at most when I do.
On a recent fishing trip, a friend who is a recovering alcoholic introduced me to Athletic Brewing. Had one of their IPAs while rowing myself down a coastal OR stream. Was pleasantly surprised that it actually tasted like a real beer. Most probably wouldn't even second guess it if they tried it without being told first.
Anyone had another brand like this they like? Trying to find a few more. I will still continue to buy my regulars as I doubt some of the german pilsners I enjoy so much will ever be done properly like this, but some of the "bigger" flavored beers do just fine. It's nice to have options.
All Non-Alcoholic Beer | Athletic Brewing Co.
Athletic Brewing is pioneering a non-alcoholic craft beer revolution. Enjoy our refreshing brews without sacrificing your lifestyle or good taste.athleticbrewing.com
I don’t drink a lot of beer, but do enjoy it once in a while and don’t drink it for the alcohol so if they could get the taste right without the alcohol, great!
Thanks Evan, at 70 years I need to start taking better care. I've tried the Athletic's and found them to be a good substitute but I'm still looking for a winning Amber Ale style to hit the spot, Sober Carpenter Irish Red is on the radar as a possible winner. Thanks Merle!
Eight years alcohol-free. Can't say I miss the alcohol, but I do miss a good cold amber or red. Heard on NPR about Athletic and Brooklyn Special Effect, now this Sober Carpenter Irish Red, all sounds intriguing.
Cheers
Cheers
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I do drink alcohol, I just don'tdrink very much of it these days. Between it screwing with my sleep and the hangovers becoming unpredictable, I rarely have more than one or two drinks. And if I'm going to have even those 1-2, I tend to save it for special times with friends or a night out with my wife. So I've started enjoying the booze free beers when I just want something cold and bitter after fishing or mowing the lawn. I'm also not against fancy fizzy water (Spindrift FTW). But sometimes that combo of hops/malt is what you want.
I've actually been drinking Upside Down as my "take a can to the river" beer the past week or so. While not the best "beer" ever, it's plenty good in my book. I have been generally pleased with all of the Athletic beers I've tried. I've been less pleased with the other random microbrew alcohol free beers I've picked up. But part of the fun is in the trying.
Hope you like it… it’s no Mac&Jacks African Amber (my favorite real beer) but it’s the only amber NA I’ve found that’s pretty good. I’m still searching for more ambers to try, but they are few and far between compared to the IPAs.
I can appreciate a well-brewed version of just about any style, but an authentic German Helles or Pilsner, and a good porter/stout tops my list. I have little hope of the more delicate lagers ever translating well to the non alcoholic versions. But I'm very excited to try the Athletic dark.
I had to cut the alcohol AND the carbs, so I bought an Aarke seltzer water fizzer for the house, and it has definitely saved me. Heard only good things about the Athletic beer, though.
